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EAT, DRINK AND PLAY HOCKEY
The Kalamazoo Wings Hockey Club is here to provide a complete family entertainment package to our fans and sponsors. Wings Event Center is a premier venue for hockey, concerts, trade shows, youth athletics, and many other events! Our teams are committed to presenting an outstanding experience that will keep everyone engaged, and deliver exceptional value. We cherish every sponsor and visitor who walks through our doors, and we are committed to delivering the most exciting experience to each one of them, every single time!
FRONT OFFICE STAFF
Toni Will
The 49th season of Kalamazoo Wings Hockey marks the 8th season for K-Wings Governor & General Manager Toni Will. During Will’s current glass ceiling-shattering tenure, Toni has established herself as a highly respected leader in professional hockey. Will is Kalamazoo’s first female general manager, the first woman ever to be named to the ECHL Board of Governors and currently sits on multiple ECHL executive committees. Under Will’s leadership, the K-Wings have seen attendance growth skyrocket for six consecutive seasons. In 2021-22, Will led the K-Wings to the No. 1 ranking in the ECHL in year-over-year attendance growth percentage. A lifelong resident of Southwest Michigan, Will graduated from Vicksburg High School and Western Michigan University. Will prides herself in not only being born and raised in the Kalamazoo area, but also in raising her family here as well. Toni has enjoyed multiple highlights and achievements since her arrival. Most notably, the “We Are Kalamazoo” game in 2016 and 2017 that helped raise over $100,000 for victims of two local tragedies, securing the 2019 Guinness World Record for ‘largest lightsaber battle’ on Star Wars Night, and ideating & executing professional hockey's first 'Rainbow Ice' game. She also sits on the ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ committee and chairs the ‘Team Services’ committee for the ECHL. Will's passion for giving back to the community extends beyond her team efforts. Currently, Will volunteers on the fundraising committee for the Southwest Michigan Miracle League, and serves on the Discover Kalamazoo Sports Advisory Council. She previously served on the boards for Trikats, Buy Local, Friends of Kalamazoo Recreation, Kalamazoo Literacy Council, the Kalamazoo Marathon, and Kalamazoo Strong. Prior to joining the K-Wings, Will worked for Fifth Third Bank and PNC Bank as a sales and service manager, overseeing the creation of customer-centric banking across 42 branches in Southwest Michigan. After her banking career, Will served as Chamber Executive VP with Southwest Michigan First, where her efforts were centered on the growth of small businesses affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce. Will enjoys family time, fitness and life-success coaching in her free time. Currently, Toni has completed over 60 triathlons, including two full Ironman competitions, over 20 half marathons and four full marathons.
Brad Vandenberg
Keli Ekola
Chris Cadeau
Derek Arnold
Hometown: Sterling Heights, MI What's your professional experience/background: Kalamazoo Wings (Vancouver Canucks ECHL Affiliate), Kalamazoo, MI - 2018 to Present Albany Devils (New Jersey Devils AHL Affiliate), Albany, New York - 2013-2017 Portland Pirates (Phoenix Coyotes AHL Affiliate), Portland, Maine - 2012-2013 Bacardi USA, Las Vegas, Nevada - 2012 University of New England - 2008-2012 Detroit Country Day School - Class of 2008 Favorite part of a hockey game: One-timer goal from the top of the circle Favorite Sports Team: Detroit Red Wings Favorite Color: Blue Favorite Hobby: Traveling Favorite Hangout: Principle If you could buy any type of food what would you buy?: Ben and Jerry's Oat of this Swirled
Tim Hindbaugh
Clay Coltson
TJ Scott
Travis McCormick
Ryan Dehommel
Joe Roberts
HOCKEY STAFF
Joel Martin
The 2023-24 season is the second season for Martin as Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations of the K-Wings, after three behind the bench as Kalamazoo's Assistant Coach. This follows a playing career that spanned 15 seasons across all levels of professional hockey. On January 18, 2021, Martin was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame. Martin is no stranger to Kalamazoo, as the former player, assistant and now head coach played nine seasons for the K-Wings before retiring after the 2017-18 season. Currently, Martin ranks No. 1 in ECHL history for career 30-plus win seasons (3), is fifth in ECHL history for career wins (200), and he put together the third-best season by any ECHL goaltender, posting 36 victories in 2015-16. Joel also holds the Kalamazoo Wings record for career wins (229), shutouts (21), games played (422), minutes played (24,755), and saves (12,310). For his efforts, Martin brought the Colonial Cup home to Kalamazoo in 2005-06. Prior to making his professional debut in 2003 with the Bakersfield Condors, Martin spent three seasons in the Western Hockey League with Lethbridge, Tri-City, Vancouver, and Calgary, where he appeared in 123 games, posting a 46-50-9 record, with a 3.24 GAA and a .893% save percentage. Martin resides in Kalamazoo with his wife Caroline and sons, Louis and Thomas.
Kohl Schultz
2023-24 marks the second season for Kohl Shultz as Assistant Coach of the K-Wings. Schultz spent 2021-22 as the Stockton Heat’s (AHL) video coach. Prior to that, Schultz served as an assistant (2019-2021) and interim head coach (2019-20) for the Kansas City Mavericks. The Overland Park, Kansas native played collegiate hockey for the University of North Carolina from 2010-2014, before taking the position of director of hockey operation for Bemidji State University in 2014-15. Shultz then joined the University of Maine as a video coach for two seasons before his first stop in Stockton as a video coach and team manager (2017-2019).
Ben Wilson
Ben Wilson was named K-Wings assistant coach in July of 2023. This after Wilson returned to Kalamazoo for his first professional coaching role, post 11-year playing career, as a video coach for the last season. The former K-Wings captain (2016-2020) played seven seasons in Kalamazoo (2013-2020) before heading to Europe for the final two seasons of his playing career. Wilson is a native of Calgary, Alberta and played 377 games in Kalamazoo as a player, ranking him No. 11 in K-Wings history.
Austin Dykstra
Hometown: Hudsonville, Michigan
What's your professional experience/background: Background in Tooling and Manufacturing, experience as a locker room attendant in Kalamazoo
Favorite part of a hockey game: Right before opening puck drop.
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Hobby: Hockey
Favorite Hangout: DJ's Pizza Pub in Hudsonville with friends and family
If you could buy any type of food what would you buy?: Crab legs, I'm a big seafood guy
Family: My wife McKenna & two dogs
Cody Lindhorst
The 2023-24 season is the second season for Lindhorst as the K-Wings' Head Athletic Trainer. Lindhorst joined Kalamazoo's staff after seven seasons as the head athletic trainer for the Rapid City Rush prior to spending last year working for Pennfield High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A Traverse City native, and Central Michigan University alumnus, Lindhorst was also the Divisional Representative for the ECHL Sports Medicine Executive Committee his final three seasons in Rapid City. Cody currently lives in Oshtemo with his wife Lindsay, daughter Oakleigh, and his two dogs Ember and Brystal.